An 18-year-old friend of Mashrafe, his bracelet sells for Tk 4.2m to support virus-affected people

The bracelet that hugged Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s wrists for as long as 18 years has been sold for a hefty Tk 4.2 million after a fierce bidding war in an auction.

Going under the hammer on Facebook page Auction 4 Action, the steel bracelet had a base price of Tk 500,000.

The auction began on Sunday morning and Bangladesh Leasing and Finance Companies Association or BLFCA emerged winners in the early hours of Monday.

The association said it would add Tk 200,000 more to the price.

Proceeds from the sale, now a part of the Mashrafe’s Narail Express Foundation, will be spent on the poor affected by the coronavirus crisis.

However, BLFCA chairman Mominul Islam has said that they wish to return the bracelet to Mashrafe as a gift.

Mashrafe had the bracelet made by an uncle of his close friend 18 years ago.

“I’ve rarely taken the bracelet off in the last 18 years. It needs to be taken off during surgery or MRIs. I may have taken it off in some matches or in periods of those games. But whenever I did, it never felt right. It felt as if something was missing,” Mashrafe told bdnews24.com.

“This bracelet has witnessed all the up and down in my career… all my fights, on the pitch and off it. I’ve always thought it was my good luck charm,” he added.

The former Bangladesh skipper, who stepped down earlier this year after a successful five-year stint at the helm of the limited-overs team, is the Tigers’ most successful ODI bowler and a new member of the parliament from Narail-2.

He has been heavily involved in providing aid in his constituency since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and praised around the country for his innovative initiatives in offering assistance.

He has contributed to the cricket’s welfare, including donation to the cricketer’s fund. And he financed this all mostly by himself.

The Tigers have actively been involved in providing support to the virus-affected people during the ongoing crisis. This past Friday Mushfiqur Rahim auctioned his bat which he wielded for Bangladesh’s first Test double ton and former Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi bought it for almost Tk 1.7 million.

Earlier, Shakib, too, had put his bat – the one he used in the World Cup 2019 in England -- on auction. It was sold for Tk 2 million. Taskin Ahmed and Soumya Sarkar also put a ball and bat on auction to raise money and assist the poor amid the coronavirus crisis.

Mushfiqur then paired up with Shakib Al Hasan Foundation to help out the 350 disadvantaged families of Bogura, his hometown, with food.

The Tigers’ new ODI captain Tamim Iqbal joined in the aid initiatives and helped out 91 disadvantaged athletes, who were financially hit due to the shutdown over the pandemic outbreak.